


The First Birthday

by Forever_Daydreaming



Category: EastEnders (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:22:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23500774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Forever_Daydreaming/pseuds/Forever_Daydreaming
Summary: Context: It's Ben and Callum's daughter's first birthday.
Relationships: Callum "Halfway" Highway/Ben Mitchell
Comments: 2
Kudos: 57





	The First Birthday

Callum and Ben woke up at the same time to the sound of their child making random noises down the baby monitor. Usually they would continue to make noises to themselves for about 20 minutes before becoming bored and calling out for them to go and get her. This morning was particularly important, today marked a year since their lives changed forever, the end of the best year of their lives so far – it was their daughters first birthday!

They both got out of bed, smiling like idiots at each other thinking about the amazing year they had had, sure it hadn’t been easy, not by a long shot, the endless nights, the never ending tantrums, the constant overwhelming feeling of responsibility, but despite all of that neither of them would change it for the world.

They walked into their daughter’s room singing happy birthday, pointless they knew, given that their daughter had absolutely no concept of what a birthday was but that didn’t stop them.

“Good morning darling!” Ben smiled reaching down into the crib to pick Mia up, who was holding her arms up to him. “Happy Birthday!” He said excitedly bouncing her up and down on his hip and placing a  
kiss on her cheek.

“Daddy!” Mia smiled, holding her arms out to Callum who was stood behind Ben.

“Hey birthday girl!” Callum smiled lovingly, taking her from Ben and placing a kiss on her forehead. “Should we go see what the birthday bunny left? Yeah?” 

Before turning around to head downstairs his eyes met Ben’s who had a look of confusion plastered on his face.

“Birthday bunny?” Ben mouthed, wondering where Callum had got that from, causing him to laugh.

The night before, once they had put Mia to bed, they stayed up for hours trying to wrap each present perfectly and organising them in the nicest way possible. As the night drew on Ben decided it was time for them to both go to bed given how much of a busy day, they had planned for her actual birthday,

“Come on Cal, she’s not gonna care if you put the bigger present to the left or the right of that one,” Ben said sitting down beside him on the floor, “She will care if she has a grumpy daddy because he didn’t get enough sleep.” He pointed out, placing a kiss on Callum’s shoulder, “Come on.”

As they entered the living room, Callum placed Mia in the middle of the floor and let her explore all the many presents surrounding her, a look of surprise on her face which they had only ever seen the Christmas before when she was surrounded by a sea of presents.

“What is it baby?” Ben asked excitedly taking a seat on the floor next to her as she looked back at him as if to ask him the same question. “Is it presents for you?” He continued, raising his eyebrows and smiling. Mia smiled back at him before looking around the room and pointing at the presents, mumbling a word that sounded very similar.

“Should me and Dadda help you open them?” Callum asked, taking a seat opposite Ben next to Mia. “Yeah?” 

As he said this Mia walked over to one of the presents, picked it up and took it back over to them, placing it in the middle of them both. She then toddled over towards Ben as if to ask what to do next, Ben then ripped a part of the paper so Mia could unwrap the rest, “Mia do.” Ben said showing Mia the paper so that she could open it properly.

As Mia unwrapped the rest of the paper, Ben looked up at Callum who a fond expression covering his face as he watched his daughter – the sight of this just melted Ben’s heart. As he was looking towards Callum, he heard a little laugh come from Mia’s mouth.

“What is it Mia?” Callum asked excitedly.

“Deddy!” Mia responded, happiness filling her voice.

“Yes, that’s right!” Callum said watching the joy fill her face. They had bought her a large baby pink teddy bear that she had seen in the toy shop in town a few weeks before, every time they took her in the shop she showed so much love for it that when it came to buying her presents they couldn’t resist getting it for her.

“Are you gonna give her a cuddle?” Ben said to Mia who proceeded to give her new teddy a massive hug, “Aw that’s nice.” Ben continued helping her unwrap her presents whilst Callum continued to take about a million pictures which he had already bought a photo album for. They also bought her a few books because she loved stories being read to her, especially by Lexi, as well as a couple of other baby toys they had seen in the shop.

After all her presents were unwrapped Ben gave Callum the signal to bring in the last of her presents which they had been unable to wrap. “What’s daddy got?” Ben asked getting her attention and pointing towards Callum who was walking into the living room pushing a small toy pram in front of him. Suddenly Mia started rushing as quick as she could over to where Callum was before gripping onto the handles of the pram, laughing excitedly. She began pushing it around the room before going back over to her new teddy, picking it up and placing it into the pram.

“Is teddy going for his na’nights?” Callum asked Mia, who was toddling with the pram around the house. “Should we get some breakfast whilst he has his sleep?” Callum nodded towards her.

He walked into the kitchen and she quickly followed after him, toddling along into the room leaving Ben to tidy up all the discarded wrapping paper and gathering her toys into one area in an attempt to keep the house clean for later on. 

“Where’s the birthday girl?” Kathy sang as she entered their front door, presents and balloons in hand and a ridiculously big smile plastered on her face.

“You’re early.” Ben questioned following his mum into the living room and checking the time. 

“You’re not meant to be here for another hour yet.” 

“Yes, I know,” She began, placing the presents on the floor, “But it’s my grandchild’s first birthday and I couldn’t wait to see her,” Kathy explained looking around, “So where is the little madam?”

“She’s having a nap,” Callum answered, entering from the kitchen, “Actually, we should probably wake her up now so she’ll sleep later, what do you think?” He wondered looking towards Ben.

“Yeah probably best, do you want to get her or shall I?”

“I’ll go, you make your mum a drink.” He said tapping Ben on the shoulder before running up the stairs.

“Thank you, Callum.” Kathy called, “Least someone in this house has manners.” She teased, walking into the kitchen.

“Tea? Coffee? Water?” Ben asked.

“Waters fine with me darling.” She replied taking a seat at the kitchen table as Ben reached into the cupboard and began making her a drink, Kathy watching him fondly as he did so,

“What?” He asked turning around and noticing her face.

“You. Handling a baby, I never got to see this part with Lexi, it’s all a bit new still somehow.”

“You’re telling me,” Ben said, “I thought I had parenting nailed until this one arrived, but nappies and naptimes are a whole new ball game.” 

Sometimes Ben found himself feeling guilty that he was able to give Mia all the time he never gave to Lexi, he felt like he had failed her by not being there in the early years but seeing what a gorgeous young girl she had turned into, he knew Lola had done a perfect job without him – he just had to make sure he did all he could now. 

“Don’t complain, before you know it, she’ll be grown up with a baby of her own.” Kathy laughed, reflecting on how quickly Ben had grown up. 

“Yeah right, she’s not going anywhere near a lad until I’m at least 60.” He remarked, causing them both to laugh.

“I’m proud of you Ben.” Kathy smiled, her hand reaching out and holding his, “You’re an amazing dad to both those girls.”

“Thanks mum.” He said quietly, smiling back at her.

As he said this, he heard Callum coming back down the stairs, holding their daughter in his arms who had a dummy in her mouth and was resting her head on Callum’s shoulder. Her blue eyes were slowly adjusting to the light and her brunette hair was all messy from her sleeping on it. Kathy looked up lovingly at Mia but didn’t try to hold her, knowing she’d be a bit disorientated having just woken up from her nap.

“You gonna wake up properly and say hello to grandma?” Callum murmured placing a kiss on her head. Instead of turning to Kathy, Mia held her hands out for Ben, wanting to be held by him.

“You want dadda?” Callum asked softly, handing her over to Ben.

Ben bounced her gently on his hip to try and get her to wake up properly as the three of them chatted about what they had planned for the evening. After about 5 minutes, Mia began to wriggle in Ben’s arms which was he way of telling him she wanted to be put down. When he did so she went into the living room before returning with her toy pram and showing it to her grandmother.

“What’s this?” Kathy questioned excitingly towards Mia. “Did your daddies get you this?” Kathy continued as Mia was showing her the new teddy.

“Birthday bunny.” Ben interrupted, smirking towards Callum.

“What?” Kathy questioned, looking at him confused.

“Doesn’t matter.” He smirked, winking at Callum.

“Where is she?” They heard Stuart’s voice call from the front door, they still wondered why they gave him a spare key to their house. “There she is.” He smiled as soon as entered the kitchen.

When she spotted Stuart, Mia had a huge smile form on her face and she quickly ran over to him with her arms up wanting to be picked up, none of them knew how he had managed it but Mia was obsessed with her Uncle – she was like his little side kick. Stuart picked her up and began spinning her around, singing happy birthday to her, causing Mia to giggle away. 

“I’ve left her presents next to the ones in the living room, is that alright?” He checked with Callum and Ben.

“Yeah that’s fine.” Callum told him. “I don’t think she’s interested in them anyway now you’re here.” He laughed before they all headed into the living room. They all repeated what had happened that morning with the presents, this time instead Kathy and Stuart were sat on the floor with her whilst Callum and Ben got the last few things ready for the other guests to arrive.

After half an hour, once all the presents were opened, Ben came back into the living room and picked up Mia.

“Come on little one, should we go and get you ready for your party? Yeah? Come on then.”

As he took her upstairs to get changed, there was a knock on the door. Callum was greeted by Lola, Jay, Lexi and their little 2-year-old boy, Luke when he opened it. They had a present each in their hands as they entered into the living room, placing them down near the pile that had been gradually building as the day went on. 

“Uncle Cal?” Callum heard Luke call from next to him.

“Yeah bud?” Callum asked looking down at him.

“Can I have some juice please?” He smiled.

“Course you can mate, do you want anything Lex?” He asked her but failed to get her attention as she was showing off her new dress to Kathy. “Lex? Drink?” He tried once again.

“No thank you.” She replied, clearly too invested in showing off her new outfit.

After 5 minutes Ben came down the stairs with Mia, who now had had her messy hair brushed and sorted into place and was wearing a new tiny light blue dress. 

“Look who's here.” Ben exclaimed, bringing her into the living room before putting her on the floor next to Lexi. Mia was utterly and completely obsessed with her older sister, if Lexi was practicing a new dance routine you could almost guarantee Mia would be somewhere in the room trying her best to copy her. She was like a mini version of her. 

“You alright princess?” Ben asked, reaching down and placing a kiss on the top of Lexi’s head, very cautious not to make her feel left out.

“Yeah,” She said turning to face him before standing up and posing for him as she showed him her new dress, “What do you think?” 

“That is the most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen.” Ben entertained her, smiling at how confident his little girl was. “What do you think Cal?” 

“I think it’s gorgeous Lex,” Callum said with a smile as he gave Luke his drink, “Glad Mia’s got such a stylish big sister to get fashion advice from.” He commented, earning a smile from Lexi before she  
turned back to help Mia play with her new toys.

Over the course of the next hour, more family began to arrive, Ian arrived with Bobby, the Carters came along and Phil eventually showed his face. They all sat around chatting, watching the birthday girl open her presents, seeing how cute she was whenever she opened something new and immediately showed Ben and Callum. 

After an hour or two, once everyone had eaten some food, they all gathered around the living room, Ben sat with Mia on his knee on the floor in the middle of the room as Callum came in with the cake. It was a white cake, decorated with pink icing and had a candle placed in the middle of it. 

As he entered the room, everyone began to sing happy birthday to Mia. He took a place on the floor next to Ben and placed the cake on the small table which was in front of them, once everyone had finished singing to her, Callum and Ben helped her blow out the candle before everybody cheered. They then served out cake to everyone, which they found amazing to actually be able to do so given how many people were there and they continued to watch Mia enjoy all the attention she was getting.

When Callum had first mentioned the idea to Ben, he was reluctant to agree to such an occasion. Initially he wanted the day to be spent just as them, as a family, just them, Mia and Lexi, but as Callum continued to pursue his idea, Ben found himself becoming more and more convinced. He wanted Mia to know how loved she was and what better way than bringing everyone who cares about her together on her special day.

As the evening drew on, Mia began to become tired and everyone had started to leave to allow them to put her to bed. After they had thanked everyone for coming and saw everyone out of the door, they began to put Mia to bed. They had offered Lexi to stay at their house that evening to have a family sleepover but much to their surprise there was a sleepover taking place at her friends’ house that  
‘couldn’t be missed.’

They ran her a bath, placing all her new bath toys from Phil into it, and got her cleaned up from the busy day she had had. After her bath, they took her into her room, put the night light on and got her ready for bed. They dressed her in one of her new onesies which Lola and Jay had bought her and began trying to get her off to sleep. 

Ben had gone downstairs to get her a bottle of milk and when he returned, he came back to hear Callum singing softly to her, something which he only did in private. Callum gave her the bottle as Ben went back downstairs to clean up any rubbish which was left over from the day and put all her presents into one corner of the room so she could play with them the next day.

As he went back upstairs, he noticed Mia was now sound asleep in Callum’s arms and was cuddled up in his chest, something she had done ever since she was born. When Callum saw Ben, he walked over to her crib and placed her gently into it, making sure she was tucked under her blanket properly and was warm enough. Both men were leant over the cot just gazing down at their daughter with such looks of adoration.

“Can you believe it’s been a year?” Ben whispered, still looking down at Mia.

“No, feels like only yesterday, we were at that hospital wondering how we were gonna do this, now look at us.” He said softly, looking towards Ben, earning a smile in return.

“Come on.” Ben muttered, grabbing Callum’s hand and leading out of the room so not to disturb Mia. They went into their bedroom, both knackered from the day they’d had and got ready for bed. 

Callum climbed into bed followed by Ben who lay next to him with his head on his chest, both of them looking through pictures of the day before landing on a picture of all four of them, sat together laughing and smiling, causing both men to smile.

“Do you think she enjoyed it?” Ben asked facing Callum as he put his phone down.

“I think she loved it.” He smiled, both of them happy that they could give her the childhood they had both dreamed of.

“I love you.” Ben smiled at Callum, thinking about how much happiness he felt in those moments, the moments where he felt complete with his own little family

“Love you too.” Callum said lovingly, leaning in and placing a gentle kiss to Bens lips.

“Now we should probably get some sleep because madam in there will be up at the crack of dawn.” Ben commented as he went to roll onto his side to sleep.

“I’m sure we have some time before we need to be asleep…” Callum smirked, causing Ben to smile in response.

“Oh yeah?” Ben teased.

“Yeah…” Callum quickly said, reconnecting his lips to Ben’s.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think!


End file.
